Madonna’a brother, Christopher Ciccone, is not giving up on his quest to take Simon Cowell’s seat as a judge on Fox’s hit “American Idol.”

Ciccone at various times during his 25-year career has served as his sister’s assistant, backup dancer, stylist and artistic director. He launched a Facebook page — “Christopher Ciccone for American Idol! — in January, though it’s so far drawn only 602 members. Still, he’s not giving up.

“I think I can bring a particular kind of credibility to the show. I’d be the only person sitting at the table who actually created a pop star from the beginning, and helped keep her there for 20 years,” he said. “I know what it takes to make it.”

Ciccone isn’t worried about his competitors for the Cowell seat — who are rumored to include Howard Stern, Interscope chief Jimmy Iovine, Warner Music CEO Lyor Cohen and former Sony Music boss Tommy Mottola. “I think Howard is a great guy, but it’s difficult to see him sitting there, with the demographic he brings to the table,” Ciccone says. “And I know producers are talking to Perez [Hilton], although he’s probably the only person who doesn’t realize how irrelevant he is.”

Ciccone says that he hasn’t yet talked to Madonna about his quest, but, “I’m sure she’d be supportive,” he says. “Though I can’t imagine what she’s doing on ‘The Marriage Ref’ [Jerry Seinfeld’s new NBC show, on which Madonna was a recent panelist] giving advice to married couples. I guess it’s kind of ironic. Everyone has their experiences regarding marriage — hers are maybe what not to do,” he laughed.

Ciccone also thinks he’d fit in with the current judges — even new addition Ellen DeGeneres, with whom Cowell has privately feuded. “I like Ellen,” he says. “She’s got the regular-folks appeal. I really love the show. It’s become part of the American dream.”

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Kate Hudson, upset by her breakup with Alex Rodriguez, found a sympathetic ear at the local premiere of “Nine.”

At Tuesday’s after-party at M2 in Chelsea, Hudson was seen chatting quietly with Madonna, who dated the Yankee slugger last year. “When the cameras were on Kate she was all smiles. But privately you could tell she has had her heart broken,” a witness said.

Humiliated Hudson, who was reportedly dumped by A-Rod because he felt she was hogging the spotlight, also flew in her mom, Goldie Hawn, to support her. Mother and daughter drank dirty martinis at M2 “and hung out all night,” a spy said. “It was her big premiere, and she was upset Alex wasn’t there to support her.”

Hudson’s friends Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Meyer tried to be supportive, but couldn’t make it through the aggressive crowd to congratulate her. The couple gave up and slipped out the back entrance into their waiting SUV.

While Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” became a Yankees anthem during the World Series victory, it was hardly music to Hudson’s ears. “When the song was played at the after-party, Kate looked at her mom and did a fake scream,” our source says.

Still, there’s hope for the relationship. A pal of Hudson told us they’re trying to make up. The source said, “They had a huge fight in London at the premiere of ‘Nine,’ and Alex flew to Miami to hang out with his friends. But in the last few days he and Kate have started speaking again on the phone. She hopes they can work things out. But they are both very stubborn.”

Also making appearances at the party were stars Penelope Cruz and boyfriend Javier Bardem, Harvey Weinstein, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Fergie, who showed up with husband Josh Duhamel, despite an Atlanta stripper’s recent claims that she had a one-night stand with the actor. “They looked very affectionate all night,” says our spy.

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Sources say Her Madgesty was also a patient of Dr. Tony Galea, the Toronto sports-medicine specialist arrested in October after an underling was nabbed at the border with a bag containing human growth hormone, which is banned by most sports leagues.

Madonna is said to have needed Galea’s care after falling off her horse in the Hamptons last April.

Woods reportedly was treated by Galea after his knee surgery last year. Madonna’s longtime rep, Liz Rosenberg, said: “Information regarding Madonna’s doctors has never been made available to me, but I knew that sooner or later the names Madonna and Tiger would be in a sentence and I’m delighted that it’s sooner.” A lawyer for Galea — who’s treated Mets Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado and Broncos quarterback Chris Simms — denied he gave Woods any human growth hormone.

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Her Madgesty insisted on wearing a bullet-proof vest under her black leather jacket on a visit to the Dona Marta shantytown in Rio the other day, the Globo newspaper reported.

Madonna — accompanied by the governor of Rio de Janeiro state, Sergio Cabral, and a platoon of bodyguards — spent 40 minutes in the lawless favela having raised $10 million from local businessmen to build a school there, like the one she built in Malawi.

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Madonna is jetting to Brazil this week with her current squeeze, Jesus Luz, but she denies it’s to meet his mom, Cristiane Regina da Silva.

She said, “I am going there strictly for fund raising and humanitarian purposes.”

She’s meeting with the governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, and spon soring a documentary about kids living in the squalid hillside slums. Meanwhile, despite rumors that Luz would join actor/model Adam Senn in the new Dolce & Gabbana campaign, it turns out the Material Girl herself has landed the job. She shot it along with Senn, owner of Chelsea restaurant Il Bastardo, late last week in Brooklyn. A source said, “The campaign was shot by Steven Klein and has a gorgeous vintage Italian look, like ‘The God father.’ ”

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Is Madonna moving to primetime?

She is if Simon Cowell has anything to do with it.

Cowell is pushing to land Madonna for the hit British reality show “The X Factor,” according to OK! Magazine. If all goes according to Cowell’s plan, Madonna would come on as a celebrity mentor to the contestants on the Saturday night music talent competition.

Determined to win the ratings war with BBC series “Strictly Come Dancing,” Cowell is hoping ‘X Factor” execs will entice Madge with some extra cash. Cowell’s coercion has, of course, worked in the past with musicians like Beyonce, Britney Spears and Take That, all of whom have mentored contestants.

A source told OK!, “ITV are happy to back him – and he’s determined to repay their faith by getting the biggest names in the world, including Madonna.”

Of course, it may take more than money to get Madonna to rearrange her schedule for the series. She’s now wrapping up her Sticky and Sweet tour and will undoubtedly be busy promoting her upcoming greatest hits album “Celebration,” due out September 29th.

Meanwhile, “X Factor” is currently holding auditions for its sixth season. Though no plans are finalized where Madonna is concerned, the source told OK! “Simon is the most powerful man in TV these days and he’s in a position to call the shots.”

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If ever she tires of showbiz, a new career clearly awaits Madonna.

She could pose for medical students keen to learn about the muscular system.

Her once hefty arms have now lost every trace of fat, causing every vein and sinew to stand out in stark relief.

Madonna, 50, was pictured as she left a restaurant on Sunday night and returned to her London home.

Perhaps she needs to rethink her fitness sessions with personal trainer Tracy Anderson, which involve gruelling two-hour workouts six days a week while drinking coconut water to keep energy levels high.

Miss Anderson is based in New York but flew to London to help the star prepare for her European tour.

She was introduced to Madonna by Gwyneth Paltrow, who began working out after giving birth to son Moses in 2006.

Earlier this month, Miss Anderson said: ‘I have completely changed Madonna’s body. I told her to forget everything she had been taught before and to give up yoga, which can make you look terribly veiny.

‘Madonna’s very healthy and looks fantastic but those veins have nothing to do with me.’

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For a guy who took part in the 1993 robbery and murder of a Staten Island woman, former Madonna flame Chris Paciello seems to have become quite a friend of law enforcement.

Sandy Sachs, who was Paciello’s partner in West Hollywood’s Murano restaurant, is ready to file a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, charging that Paciello vengefully persuaded a cop buddy to have her busted on a phony drunken-driving charge.

Sachs’ lawyer, Gerson Horn, says Paciello set her up after she sued him for allegedly failing to make good on a promised $600,000 investment. Horn tells us that, on April 16, cops received a call from off-duty deputy Sheriff Ralph Garay, who claimed Sachs was drunk at the restaurant and about to drive home. According to Horn, Paciello can be heard on a dispatch tape coaching Garay to tell on-duty cops Sachs should be arrested.

Horn says a deputy who came to the restaurant “saw no evidence that Sandy was drunk.” But, after Paciello’s girlfriend, Erin Naas, also allegedly told police Sachs was drunk, Sachs was confronted at her home by several officers. Horn says they “threw her to the ground, handcuffed and pummeled her. Her body was covered with bruises.”

A forced blood test determined Sachs’ alcohol level was within legal limits. The L.A. district attorney’s office has declined to file charges against her. Horn says Sachs’ suit will accuse police of wrongful arrest, battery and civil rights violations.

Sheriff’s spokesman Mike Parker says, “We found no wrongdoing by our employees. It was a legal arrest.” Paciello’s lawyer, Keith Fink, says, “A friend of Chris’ did the responsible thing by calling in someone who appeared drunk.”

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